Party poopers in a magical world

Writing three times a week (on time) is proving to be about as hard as I imagined. Marching forward. Something caught my eye in the latest Skeptic's Dictionary Newsletter from Bob Carroll,

“So, yes, skeptics are party poopers. When we attack ID and support evolution, when we defend argument and reason over traditional prejudices, or when we challenge an alleged weeping statue of the Virgin Mary and call it a hoax without even investigating it (as Joe Nickell did recently), we are seen by many people as a threat to the beliefs that define their values. A skeptic may find it appalling that grown people believe that a red mark on a statue’s cheek is a miracle, but to the believer it’s a validation of their other religious beliefs. Challenge the alleged miracle and you’re seen as challenging the believer’s faith.”

This problem makes it difficult to have a real debate with someone when their position and beliefs are companions. I think it was Dr. Seth Asser who said that as people speaking for reason, we should stop explaining. What he means, is that when you have to explain why Evolution is good science, or why homeopathy is no better than a placebo, you're already loosing the debate. Someone with an irrational belief as the root of their world-view won't hear evidence to the contrary. Instead of explaining why water dowsing is a simple ideomotor response and not a secret science, ask the water dowser to explain why they can't find pipes in a house without prior blueprints, or why two dowsers with no communication can't track the same “natural water sources” on the same piece of land. When facing an impenetrable wall of belief, ask them to start explaining the problems in their theory. More importantly, ask them what it would really mean if their belief were true... if water or oil could really be found with sticks, if statues really cried blood, if aliens really made crop circles. Oh what a magical world we would live in. Wait ... we do live in a “magical” world! We really do stick to the earth and not fly off when it spins! We really can cure disease that once decimated whole continents! We really do send thousands of aircraft around the world with ridiculously few accidents! That's still not enough for some people's imaginations and wants.

A lot of good reading has arrived in the last week. The new issue of Skeptic Magazine came with a great interview with the Mythbusters. I've been fans of theirs for some time now, and after reading about why they do this work, I like them even more. They're making science fun! When they come up with poor data, it's explained, so when the experiment is repeated ten or twenty times, you already know why it's necessary. It's hammering home the importance of test controls and repeatability, but it's doing it with fun topics people enjoy discussing anyway. The visuals from movies are one of their prime categories for myths. Some of my favorite episodes have been where they've debunked movie myths. There are lots of bullet myths in movies, like a gunshot will throw the victim several feet backwards, or that bullets will penetrate water to hit the escaping hero. Where people didn't before have a quick reference and test to answer these questions, now they do. Most bullets become totally non-lethal in as little as 6 inches of water. A person won't get knocked backwards from gun fire, if they were the shooter would have to take the same amount of force too.